06/09/2026
So, today we gonna talk about rocks…. Seems there has been some speculation and rumors that the Town knew there was rock under the roadway from a video posted last year showing stacked stone under a building on East Murphy Street and that the rock found under West Murphy Street was in fact not an unpreventable delay.
You are correct in the fact that there are stacked stones creating foundations under buildings, sidewalks and even in the road. We do not know for certain but believe this stacked stone was placed up to 200 years ago when establishing streets in the Town. While digging, our contractors did find this stacked stone in certain areas of West Murphy Street but it was easily removed with an excavator.
In numerous areas, the contractor had to dig 10 feet under the road into ground to place the stormboxes and stormdrains. In areas where stacked stone was located, most was found from approximately one foot to 6-7 feet deep and was as described stacked stones, not solid surfaces – the excavator removed these in the same manner as they removed dirt. However, below the stacked stone around 6-7 feet in depth, the contractor hit solid, natural shale rock and solid, natural slate rock. Both Shale Rock and Slate Rock are naturally occurring substances in the earth’s surface and there is no way to guarantee location until you open the ground. This finding slowed the process significantly as it was solid rock beginning at 6-7 feet deep from near Madison Dry Good to near Flynn Furniture. So, the contractor had to break up and remove 3-4 feet of solid shale and slate rock.
We truly hope this answers your questions and soothes speculation about delays on West Murphy Street. Please feel free to reach out to us for additional clarification, concerns and comments – we will be glad to help you find the correct information.
